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Sunday, July 5, 2009

I can't help but to come here for its Shrimp Paste Lettuce (蝦醬唐生菜) in hot clay pot especially after my recent visit to Jasmine 八月花 a few days ago. Among the few outlets the restaurant have, this one located at Wan Chai North is the one I personally preferred because the food quality is relatively more consistence (that applies to services as well). Victoria City 海都 belongs to the same group as the East Ocean 東海whichused to be one the top Chinese restaurants in Hong Kong during late 1980s and perhaps perhaps early 1990's. However, based on my most recent visit to East Ocean 東海, it is not what it used to be in my opinion. Maybe they are shifting the focus to the Victoria City 海都 venture.

The very first thing you realize when you start looking at the set of menus is that there seem to be countless promotions / offerings for high-end fancy items such as shark fins, lobsters, crabs and abalone with zoomed in pictures occupying the page. However, those items rarely appeal to me because I prefer more down-to-earth gourmet style dishes when it comes to Chinese food. With that in mind, we ordered the following: (1) Daily Soup 老火湯 (2) Roasted Beef Brisket 脆皮牛腩 (3) Sweet & Sour Pork 菠蘿咕嚕肉 (4) Pan-fried Bean Curd with Fish Broth 魚湯煎釀豆腐 (5) Shrimp Paste Lettuce in Hot Clay Pot 蝦醬唐生菜 (6) Sizzling Shrimp Casserole 粉絲海蝦 Pot (7) Deep Fried Crispy Chicken 炸子雞. One thing to note, their fried fish snack is pretty addictive!

(1) Daily Soup 老火湯I could not remember the name of the soup for tonight, I just know there were apples, pears and papaya. Maybe it was Pork Bones with Apples and Snow Pears Soup (+papaya). It was alright, nothing really special about it. One of the most important thing about serving Chinese soup in my opinion is that it must be hot which to your surprise might not be the case everywhere. Here it was alright, hot enough to my liking. However, not sure if you can see if from the picture but there was a thin layer of oil on top of the soup. Not the most delightful sight if you are on a diet.

(2) Roasted Beef Brisket 脆皮牛腩If I recall correctly, this dish is inspired by Tai Woo Restaurant 太湖海鮮城 whose same dish won some kind of culinary awards. Without comparing with others, the way it is done here is very good indeed already in my opinion. The thinly sliced beef brisket had a very crispy outer layer with tender meat and a few fatty layer in the center, making the texture / chewing sensation a delightful experience for your taste bud. Thumbs up!

(3) Sweet & Sour Pork 菠蘿咕嚕肉A disappointing dish in my opinion. The pineapple was not sweet at all, the batter was thin enough but was overly soft. Also, the pork pieces were too "meaty" meaning too much meat causing it to be overly chewy. Not what I would expect from this place.

(4) Pan-fried Bean Curd with Fish Broth 魚湯煎釀豆腐This dish was a surprise. What I like about this dish is the soup rather than the bean curd which was fair. The soup on the other hand was rich and tasty. Not sure how to describe it other than saying it was tasty because it was. I don't mind having this as the daily soup instead. Thumbs up ! (for the rich fish soup only)

(5) Shrimp Paste Lettuce in Hot Clay Pot 蝦醬唐生菜As mentioned, this dish is one of the main reasons I want to come here and it did not disappoint me. It was sizzling when served and the lettuce remained fairly dry throughout. For some reasons, the shrimp paste flavor was slight lightly but more spicy than usual. Somehow it reminded me of Fu Sing Shark Fin Seafood Restaurant 富聲魚翅海鮮酒家 which also serve this dish with quality assurance. Got to try it again soon.

(6) Sizzling Shrimp Casserole 粉絲海蝦 PotVermicelli 粉絲 is a very tricky item to cook or to prefect when trying to stir-fry them. A good vermicelli dish should be very dry and each string of the vermicelli should be well isolated. Here they did a fairly good job, the vermicelli were dry throughout and the sauce good but slightly too salty in my opinion. The shrimps were fresh and big but since they were served with shells, took me some time the un-shell them without using my hands. I am lazy, don't want to go wash my hands in the middle of the meal.

(7) Deep Fried Crispy Chicken 炸子雞While the skin was crispy, the meat itself was a bit dry and overly salty even without the sauce. Let me order some other kinds of chicken next time.

Likes:

Pan-fried Bean Curd with Fish Broth 魚湯煎釀豆腐 (the fish soup only!)

Roasted Beef Brisket 脆皮牛腩

Vermicelli 粉絲 (very dry, good !!)

Good & Friendly service in general

Dislikes:

Sweet & Sour Pork 菠蘿咕嚕肉 (disappointing)

Annoying promotional posters everywhere

They have a TV on one of the walls which was good BUT kinda distracting at the same time when I have to turn my head once in a while to see what was going on with the final episode of the latest TV Drama !

Hi Little Meg, Nice to finally meet you! o o o, no wonder their dishes are so similar and the food quality among all the three seem to be relatively consistence. Thanks for your info !! Makes me want to go to Fu Sing soon ! haha